Pro-gay marriage ads feature Obama, Bush, Cheney, Powell

The gay marriage advocacy partnership Respect for Marriage Coalition launched a $1 million national advertising campaign featuring a bipartisan group of political heavyweights pushing for gay marriage Wednesday.

The campaign features past statements from President Barack Obama, former first lady Laura Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Colin Powell all voicing their support for same-sex couples to wed.

Respect for Marriage Coalition’s message is set to appear in the coalition’s nationwide television, print — including full-page ads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post — and online ads.

The ads rely on past clips of interviews and speeches from Obama, Bush, Cheney and Powell.

The organization uses a clip of Bush on CNN saying, “When couples are committed to each other and love each other then they ought to have the same sort of rights that everyone has” and Powell, also on CNN, saying, “Allowing them to live together with the protection of law, it seems to me is the way we should be moving in this country.”

Cheney, speaking at the National Press Club, says, “Allowing them to live together with the protection of law, it seems to me is the way we should be moving in this country.”

And the ads go on to quote Obama’s inauguration speech, “Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law.”